{"id":1867,"date":"2011-07-01T10:46:16","date_gmt":"2011-07-01T14:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dcdistrictdiva.com\/?p=1867"},"modified":"2011-07-01T10:46:16","modified_gmt":"2011-07-01T14:46:16","slug":"happy-with-jesus-alone-i-want-to-go-to-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/happy-with-jesus-alone-i-want-to-go-to-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy With Jesus Alone? I Want to Go to There…"},"content":{"rendered":"

So last Sunday I ate an entire 1\/2 gallon of Edy’s Slow-Churned Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. \u00a0Out of nowhere<\/em>, I became seriously incapacitated, swimming in my own head, and feeling one step away from a diabetic coma. \u00a0“No!” I said out loud as I tumbled backward onto my couch in an unsuccessful attempt to get up and get myself some sort of help. “I can’t die! I haven’t done anything with my life, Lord!” \u00a0I looked down at the empty ice cream carton in my hand, clutched my heart, Fred Sanford style, and amended my prayer: \u00a0“And I don’t wanna die with food in my hand!!!!”<\/p>\n

It took several hours to recover from the unbearable, self-induced nausea. Who knew washing a 1\/2 gallon of ice cream down with Raspberry Simply Lemonade would’ve been way too much sugar for my body to handle?? (This is one of the 15 things on my “get your life together<\/a>” list). \u00a0But, recover, I did. \u00a0I felt immediate gratitude –then, a little bit of shame (though, surprisingly, not over the ice cream).<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago I wrote “In Death and Dying, Even Jesus Wept<\/a>,” to reconcile my thoughts on the death of loved ones with the various scriptures that proclaim death a celebration, a joy. \u00a0I hadn’t really considered my own death, however. \u00a0I guess because no one really thinks they’re ever going to die until confronted with that reality. \u00a0But the sheer horror I felt at the thought of dying at 25 with my plans still \u00a0unfinished, goals still unaccomplished made me ashamed. \u00a0If I was going to die right then, obviously<\/em> God’s plans for my life on earth were finished and the goals He wanted me to achieve were accomplished. \u00a0Shouldn’t that be my only goal: to achieve the purpose God created me for and nothing but?\u00a0 It made me feel very much like Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars III: \u00a0“Something\u2019s happening. I\u2019m not the Jedi I should be. I want more. And I know I shouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

As that great theologian Yoda once said: \u00a0“Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.” \u00a0And as David proclaimed in Psalm 73:25: \u00a0“Who have I in Heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.” \u00a0That is the goal: \u00a0to be completely content with Christ alone, whether he gives me a gorgeous pastor for a husband so I can be a preacher’s wife (^_^), or I publish my novels, or produce my screenplays, or win more awards. \u00a0The goal is to realize that the prize is the \u00a0glorious Christ. \u00a0To seek His face on earth and to bend my heart, will, and desires towards Him. \u00a0And then, to rejoice in Heaven — not to see my grandfather or any other loved ones who have passed along the way — \u00a0but rejoice at the sheer thought of being in His presence. \u00a0That perfect space where I have learned in whatsoever state I am in to be content, because I am in the presence of God. \u00a0That perfect space! I want to go to there…<\/p>\n

Our walk with Christ is personal. It takes time and daily effort. \u00a0We may never get to where we want to be, but if we let God have control, we will always get to where He wants us to be. \u00a0My new morning mantra to stave off the fear of death and the fear of failing at life is: “Rejoice in life because God still has a purpose on earth for you. \u00a0Rejoice in death because you fulfilled it.” I made that up, myself \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Anyone else struggling to let go of your own will and surrender to His perfect will? How do you handle it?<\/p>\n

Are you \u201cChasing God + Purpose\u201d? Get your \u201cGod-Chaser\u201d gear for men and women at\u00a0The Diva Shoppe<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So last Sunday I ate an entire 1\/2 gallon of Edy’s Slow-Churned Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. \u00a0Out of nowhere, I became seriously incapacitated, swimming in my own head, and feeling one step away from a diabetic coma. \u00a0“No!” I said out loud as I tumbled backward onto my couch in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27],"tags":[213,245,549,755],"class_list":["post-1867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-usual-dithering","tag-contentment","tag-death","tag-life","tag-purpose"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7nB6F-u7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brookeobie.com\/districtdiva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}